Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Love from Southern Switzerland

Dear Friends,

We are thinking of you all and sending love from southern Switzerland.

This morning, we had breakfast kibble with our friend, Unicorn. Our ears are flipped back in the fashion we call our bib. After breakfast, we take off our bib and restore our ears to factory settings.


We are grateful that you are doing all of the following:
  • wash your hands (sing Happy Birthday song twice)
  • maintain physical distance (six feet)
  • when you are outside, do not touch your face 
  • do not handle cash
  • if you are over 65, do not go out at all and have someone else do your grocery shopping
  • if you are young, offer to do grocery shopping and anything else your wise elders need
  • do not visit elders in person; if you visit, stay outside and wave
  • do maintain social contact with your loved ones
  • do set-up a family communication plan
  • do care for yourself and your mental health in all possible ways
  • stay home for public health and remember the public in public health
  • try to be sure that any of your actions do not lead to inadvertent accidents that would require medical attention and divert needed resources
Remember: you can be a hero by staying home.

Things here are awful and strange. The deaths in Italy are heartbreaking. (The original hot spot of COVID19 in Lombardy, Italy is one and a half hours south of us.) Life adjustments require an acknowledgement of grief for our previous lives, grief for the suffering and loss of life, and gratitude for our current lives. We balance realism and optimism. The daffodils bloomed last week, so there are brilliant yellow batches heralding spring. We both work from home. We go out to pee/poo Tootsie, or to get groceries. We keep track of our neighbors. We offer help. (Our words make it sound as if we've made these transitions gracefully; we have not!) The incredible life force Tootsie demonstrates daily is our inspiration.

We still walk Tootsie, but none of her doggy friends can sniff and say hello, so those doggy friends yip and bark from a distance. Chica, Hakim, Benji, Idéfix, Lafayette, and others miss their Tootsie--we all call Tootsie their Bisnonna, or Great Grandmother. We absolutely maintain social distance. We are blessed with a tube of fur who has never been particularly social. Back in the day, Tootsie used to stand at the side of doggy groups and bark. It was freaking embarrassing!


I want to name all of our friends! You know who you are. Take care. We will update as able.
Xo

8 comments:

  1. we will go through all that... we are locked too, with police at the exit of the village but we stay at home and hope it will help...

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  2. Hi Renee and DD and dear Doggy Godmother Tootsie, it's lovey to hear from you what what a inspiration darling Tootsie is! Bertie's flappy little ears were on their gale force settings settings in the park this morning, with the wind strong enough to make conversations with other dog walkers at 2m distance all but impossible. The ears are restored to default now that we are indoors and contemplating how best to organise our time in the face of ever more restricted movements. We know we are not alone, and send loving hugs (still allowed in cyberspace, we think) to our dear friends in Switzerland.
    Toodle pip and cheers!
    Bertie and Gail.

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  3. We stay at home, other than walks around the neighborhood. If we see other people, we cross to the other side of the street and then chat with them from a distance!

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  4. Sure wish I could stay home with the pups but unfortunately Walmart has chosen to remain open for now and they need their employees there. So I hope for the best as I go to work and get sneezed on daily. 😟 So good to see you again Tootsie. Amber is watching over you from the Bridge.

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  5. We live remotely so be able to cross the road. The people are in lockdown with the Man going out maybe once a week to get stuff for us. Stay healthy dear friends.

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  6. So happy to hear that you are doing well. We are also practicing social distancing while still taking daily walks. Stay safe!

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  7. Glad that you are staying home and staying safe. This is a horrible thing to have happened and it tugs at our hearts. We are grocery shopping for our elderly neighbors who shouldn't be out or can't get out. We are trying to do our part to help.

    Stay safe and healthy!

    Hugs,
    Kim

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